Vending apparatus



Jan. 9, 1951 F W v TAYLOR 2,537,489

VENDING APPARATUS Filed July :50, 1949 a@WITNESSES wvM Q ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 9, 1.951

UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE vENDiNG APPARATUS Application July 30, 1949, Serial No. 107,759

dispensing apparatus of the type Where thebottles are disposed horizontally in a vertically stacked arrangement and the individual bottles are successively moved to the bottom of the dispensing structure from which they are separately dispensed. v10

More particularly, the invention is vapplicable to a dispensing mechanism of the aforesaid type .in which the bottles are supported on their sides on a circular spiral ramp and are moved downwardly on the ramp by means of a rotatable 11.?5

pusher member centrally disposed inside the ramp. f

In such a construction the necks of the bottles extend inwardly into contact with the v pusher member. When a bottle is to be dis-@ pensed, the ramp being stationary. the pusher member is actuated either manually or by a motor through a sulicient number of degrees of rotation to cause one bottle to fall off the bottom of the ramp into a discharge opening.

During this dispensing operation, all the bottles l are rolled along the ramo by thev action of pusher member on the necks of the bottles. If one or more of the bottles is not well aligned on the ramp or if it moves in an irregular path, it may ride 01T the ramp at its outer end and cause jamming of the dispensing mechanism. This is particularly true when at least a portion of the structure of the ramp is in the form of a cage through which theI bottles may be loaded into the dispensing mechanism.

An object of the invention, therefore, is to provide a guard structure for the open portion of the ramp, which structure is attached to the ramp but is readily movable relative thereto to aiiord easy access to the ramp for loading purposes. k

A further obiect is to provide a guard structure or gate which is vertically movable relative to the ramp when a bottle is inserted in its dispensing position on the ramp, but which will automatically return to its normal position when the inserted bottle has been properly located.

These and other objects are effected by my invention as will be apparent from the following description and claims taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which: K

Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of a dispensing cabinet with the door open and having 3 Claims.'v (C1. 31a-97.1)

- adispensing mechanismtherein provided with the guard or gate feature;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on line II-II of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation on an enlarged scale with respect to Figs. 1 and 2. showing in detail the ramp and guard assembly; and

Fig. 4 is va plan View showing a fragmentary portion of the ramp and guard assembly.

In the drawings, Ii] denotes an insulated cabinet in which the dispensing mechanism II is placed. The vertical front opening is normally closed by a door I2.

The dispensing mechanism includes a circular spiral ramp I3 rotatably mounted on ay fixed vertical shaft I4 and a pusher member I5 also rotatably mounted with respect to the shaft I4 and disposed inside the ramp I3.

The ramp is here shown as supported between an upper spider I6 having horizontally and radially projecting arms I l, and a lower spider I8 having horizontally and radially projecting arms I9. The opposite pairs of upper and lower arms I1 and I9 are joined by vertical posts 20 comprising channel-shaped members having a central web 2l and outwardly-extendingV anges 22. The extremities of the posts 2li are fastened to the ends of arms I'I and I9 as by bolts 23.

Horizontal strap supporting members 24 are provided at regularly spaced intervals along each vertical post 20 and are secured thereto by suitable means such as welding. These straps serve as supports for a pair of spirally-wound tracks 25 and 26 which serve as the ramp on which the cylindrical articles. such as bottles, to be dispensed are supported. These tracks are here shown as wire members and are rigidly attached to the horizontal straps as by welding. The lower ends of the tracks`25 and 25 terminate adjacent a chute 2I into which the successive bottles drop as the pusher member I5 is rotated step by step. From the chute the bottles are retrieved by the customer through an opening (not shown) in the door I2. Y

The pusher member i5 comprises a lcylindrical shell 3B extending the full height of the ramp and rotatably supported by upper and lower bearings (not shown) on the shaft I4. Radial blades 3l extend at spaced intervals from the shell 3 9 and are fastened thereto by flanges 32. The space between two adjacent blades 3I receives the neck of a bottle 33, and the bottle itself is horizontally supported on the spiral tracks 25 and 26.

In the dispensing operation the ramp is held stationary by a latch 34 adjacent the top of the ramp and cabinet. The pusher member' I5 is rotated a predetermined number of degrees sufficient to cause one bottle to drop off the ramp onto the chute 2l. The pusher member may be rotated manually, or as here shown, by an electric motor 35 attached to the upper end of the ramp and driving the pusher member through suitable gearing 36.

When the unit is to be reloaded, the latch 34 may be released and the electric plug 3l detached so that the ramp and the pusher member may be rotated in unison to bring the various sections of the cage in front of the operator, or the pusher member may be operated separately, as in the dispensing operation, to bring the blades 3l successively before the operator. ln the latter case,

should any bottles remain in the machine they will be dropped onto the chute as the pusher is rotated and can be replaced higher. up on the ramp by the operator.

In a structure as herein described, there is a tendency for the bottles to ride outwardly off the edge of the ramp as they are moved by the pusher member. This is particularly true as the necks cf the bottles are not firmly gripped between the blades 3l but are held loosely enough tical slots i4 for receiving a pin 45 nxed to the ange 22 of post 20. In practice, at least two of these pin-and-slot connections are provided for each cooperating pair of anges 22 and 42.

Suitable wires l extend between and are at-l tached to the flanges i3 of adjacent pairs ofsupports 4l which lie between adjacent vertical posts .'l. rlhese wires are so spaced that when the guard assembly is in its normal position (Figs.

l and 3) they lie approximately half-way be-VA tween each pair of wires 26 forming the outer track ci' the ramp. In this position they so guide the outer' ends of the bottles that they cannot drop on' or move outwardly from the ramp. The

slots #l are made long enough so that when a bottle is inserted neck rst between a track 2e on which the bottle is to rest and the Wire 46 above that portion of the track, the entire guard structure will raise sufficiently high to permit the bottle to be pushed into dispensing position, resting on the tracks 25 and 26 with its neck between adjacent flanges of the pusher member l5. When a bottle has been so positioned, the guard structure returns to its normal position by gravity.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that the invention provides a simple and effective structure which positively retains the bottles on the ramp and yet which is releasable merely by the insertion of a bottle to permit the bottle to be placed in the dispensing mechanism without anyv particular attention on the .part of the operator.

While I have shown the invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modications without departing from the spirit thereof.

What I claim is:

l. Apparatus for dispensing articles separately, said apparatus comprising a generally cylindrical structure through which the articles are moved toward one end thereof at `which end they are dispensed, said structure having at least one portion thereof open lalong its periphery for substantially the entire length of the structure .for the insertion and removal of the articles and movable guard means supported by the cylindrical structure and normally closing the open portion thereof, said means being movable parallel to the axis of the cylindrical structure to alford access to the structure for the insertion in the structure of articles to be dispensed.

2. Apparatus according to claim l in which the cylindrical structure is mounted on a vertical axis and in which the movable guard means is raised vertically when an article is inserted into the structure at the open portion thereof and in which the guard means returns to its normal position by gravity when the article has been properly positioned within the structure.

3. Structure according to claim .2, in which the movable guard means is reciprocably mounted for limited movement at the periphery of the cylindrical dispensing structure.

FRANK W. TAYLOR.

No references cited. 

